foetid, but fantastic: growing eucomis, or pineapple lilies

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GIVE ME A PLANT that looks otherworldly for many weeks in summer through fall, but is happy to sit in its pot, dry and sleeping, in my cellar all winter here in Zone 5B, asking nothing. Give me Eucomis, the pineapple lilies—and the bigger and odder, the better.

The only bad thing I have to say about pineapple lilies—whose genus name means “well-haired” or “lovely haired” because of the crown-like tuft of brachts topping the flowerhead–should be mentioned right up front: Many of these hyacinth relatives smell bad; like, really bad. Like something died.

The Kew website from the UK explains why: Eucomis flowers are pollinated “almost exclusively by flies in the families Calliphoridae (blowflies), Muscidae (including house flies) and Sarcophagidae (flesh flies). The floral scent includes sulphur compounds attractive to carrion flies.”

If you’re a flower needing to reproduce and survive, you had better make yourself attractive to the right insect somehow: color maybe, or flower shape, or scent. Smelling like a dead body is the secret in this case.

The aroma doesn’t stop me, and I’ve grown pots of the most common Eucomis, medium-sized E. bicolor (above), for years. This year I declared it the start of a collection, and added a couple more.

Choices included descendants of little Eucomis vandermerwei (the dwarf pineapple lily, with some offspring like ‘Octopus’ now barely 6 inches high, and the Tiny Piny types) to ones with E. pallidiflora genetics, the well-named giant pineapple lily, which the Pacific Bulb Society says includes some subspecies with flowers to 6 feet when mature. There are 10 known species of pineapple lily, plus hybrids; I’ve barely gotten started with my paltry three.

The bulb’s age, and growing conditions, will affect height of the flower, or whether you get flowers at all. Many Eucomis come from areas in South Africa where there is summer rain, so I offer sun and don’t deprive them moisture once up and growing, but am careful to avoid waterlogging, such as they might if a saucer were beneath them.

I like everything about pineapple lilies–well, except maybe that smell. I like the lush leaves; the stems (which can be dark-colored or mottled, too), and even the showy seedheads, after the long-lasting flowers are gone. (Above, showy leaves and seedheads of ‘John Treasure.’)

Next I’m on the prowl for some little guys, land also for some with dramatic, darker foliage, such as ‘Sparkling Burgundy,’ which Tony Avent at Plant Delights selected in 1983. Unless I adopt the next ones from a nursery that sells them already potted and growing, though, I’ll be waiting until spring to order more, since loose bulbs are not sold in fall.

Many Eucomis are Zone 7ish hardy (with E. bicolor, catalogs often say 6 if deeply planted and well mulched in winter). But as I say: I grow them in pots here in 5B. Every couple or few years, I give them fresh potting soil in earliest spring, but otherwise, not much to do—except wait for their welcome, though often late, reawakening.

I have never noticed a scent. Perhaps I haven’t bought the stinky ones. For storage, I pull them after frost and trim the leaves. Put them on a cardboard flat and into the basement. Been doing that for years. They all survive with no troubles.

Love these! I haven’t noticed an odor. This is the first year I’ve put them in a pot. They grow so much better confined than they do in the soil. A beautiful addition to the deck. Love the idea of keeping them in the pot downstairs to over winter. I used to dig them up and put them in a paper grocery bag. I will be getting more next year!

I overwintered my two dark leaf pineapple lilies in pots last winter. They grew great this year but alas no flowers. The leaves by themselves still look good though. They were in a pot with Dusty Millers, which surprisingly (to me anyway) made it through the overwintering to come back strong this season.

Hi, Brian. I’ve had some skip a year as I mentioned in another comment just now. And I am always astonished, too, when “annuals” stashed in the cellar in pots (just because there was something else int he pot I was actually tryin to store!) came back. Wacky!

I absolutely love growing eucomis. They do have a pungent odor to them but I have found some that do not. Aloha lilies do not have that horrible odor. They actually have quiet a lovely scent. I purchased my eucomis bulbs from calbulbs.com. I’ve grown the purple one and had great success with it.

Thanks for introducing me to these in 2012. The four I bought bloomed initially, each in their own pot.I put them in the basement (60 degrees F). Last year no blooms. This year 4-6 blooms in each pot. Love them. Mine smell a little if you stick your nose right in them…not nearly as bad as my dog’s breath from four feet away.

I received one as a gift last year. I took them out of the soil and had them laying in a pot all winter (I’m in Calif). I didn’t remember what they were but watered them and they started growing without any soil! I’m still enjoying them and haven’t done a thing with them except keep them in the shade and watered in a fiber pot (still no soil).

I grow ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ and love the color, although the purple tends to fade to green later on in the season. I just wish the foliage would not tend to flop just after the flowers appear. Their form is great with so many plants.

Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy / Oakhurst gets over 3′ tall in our Zone 7 garden. Check out the dwarves ‘Freckles’ and ‘Dark Star’. ‘Octopus’ appears to be the straight species. A number of Tugela Hybrids are available of NZ origin.
‘Zulu Flame’ is a new, broad-leaved, purple selection with large flowers. I too, have a sensitive nose and have never smelled any plant that I could classify as malodorous.

Hi, Dan — so nice to “see” you. I just bought two more goodies at Broken Arrow yesterday where I was lecturing: ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ and a dwarf that’s speckled and flat-growing like a starfish, just labeled as vandermerwei. Now you have added more to my wishlist! Interesting that they don’t smell bad to you, because at summer Open Days here I am always having to explain to people that no, nothing died. :)

Haha I saw you with the burgundy pineapple lily at Broken Arrow yesterday. I stopped there on my way home from visiting family in Massachusetts and was surprised that the parking lot was so full for late August–didn’t know you were lecturing. I was getting that “Bluebird” hydrangea serrata you commented on. Fingers crossed that it performs fine in my Zone 5a garden in the northwestern Catskills.

margaret, i bet you had a great time at Broken Arrow yesterday! would love to hear about what new woodies you were able to take home…! I have been eating, breathing, sleeping, dreaming their catalogue the last 2 weeks, putting together an annual pickup from them in Sept. Coincidentally. I was, just today, ploughing through the plant list at Opus, whose Ed Bowen introduced that Rhode Island Red eucomis. He sells others as well:http://www.opusplants.com/
So interesting about the purported ‘odors’; i have never detected any on mine, whew!
I particularly like the dark ppl leaved and the yellow leaved ones. Warren Leach at Tranquil Lake uses the latter by his cobalt blue entry columns- for great effect!

I love sparkling burgundy and tugela jade. I have divided them so much that I left some in the ground last winter. Imagine my surprise when those big leaves came out of the ground this
spring! I am a zone 5. They did not bloom but I have a friend who said hers had bloomed last year after she forgot to dig them. They might be tougher than we think.

I need a bit more information. Could I leave my Sparkling Burgundy out in my just above freezing garage all winter? I do have a basement. What do you do in the spring? Cut it back? Or cut it back in the fall? (Zone 5.)

Could the odorous kind keep wildlife away from my flowerbeds? I have problems with rabbits, deer, squirrels, skunks,and raccoons.
I used fox urine this summer, but that just about killed me with its odor and has to be reapplied after every rain. Suggestions?

How convenient this post is as I have three Pineapple Lily bulbs started and looking good. I will pot them up and put them in the cellar this winter – so good to know and exactly what I’m looking for as I now escape winters. I am excited to see them bloom but I think I will opt to put them a little further out in the garden rather than on the steps because ooo ooo that smell – which I will have to find out for myself soon I hope. Thank you! Your collection, as always, looks gorgeous!